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Feb 8, 2014

Top 12 Features You Can Only Get from Oracle Database 12c (Part 2)

Here is the continuation of the new and improved features that you can only find in Oracle Database 12c. You can read the first part of this article here.

7. Adaptive plans

Oracle Database 12c also comes with an adaptive query optimizer that allows you to change your SQL plans even in the middle of execution. The adaptive execution plans can help you evaluate how many rows were processed and can now adapt by changing the execution plan even during run time. You can start off with the default plan, but it can change a portion of or the whole execution plan in order to guarantee optimal performance of an SQL statement.

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8. Better statistics

Another benefit of having the new adaptive query optimizer in Oracle Database 12c is that it can add in new information that can give you better statistics. This is especially advantageous to people and organizations that find the statistics they are getting now are not enough to come up with an optimal plan. The new statistics include a new histogram, which is just perfect for large datasets with more than 235 values in a single column. It also computes statistics automatically even during data loads.

Oracle Database 12c can use dynamic sampling to make sure that you have a good execution plan by coming up with the lacking or missing statistics that it needs to decide on a good execution plan.

9. Temporary undo

With this feature, you can now store undo records in a temporary table rather than in the undo tablespace.

This means that you will have less data stored in your undo tablespace and your redo logs. You can be very flexible with this feature, with the DBA controlling whether you could use this feature at the database level or a session level.

10. Automatic Data Optimization

Oracle Database 12c now has Automatic Data Optimization, which allows you to track block or segment level metrics. It also allows you to compress unused data and choose to move it to the archive area of your storage, which is cheaper than those in active use. It also helps with information life cycle management. You have a heat map for every block of data you have so that you could set up policies on compressing and storing hot, warm and cold blocks.

11. Transaction Guard

The Transaction Guard allows you to make sure that TRX only happens once, ensuring that there are no users or applications that retry operations after an outage, thereby minimizing the risk of corruption stemming from out of order and duplicate transactions.

This, however, requires custom coding and is implemented via API.

12. Pluggable databases

Lastly, Oracle Database 12c allows you to have pluggable databases that gives rise to a whole world of benefits, including the ease of running just one container instance and then plugging up to 252 databases into that single container. It also gives your relatively headache-free database consolidations because you do not have to deal with a host of problems such as public synonym collisions, schema name collisions and others. Plus, you can also save time and effort from maintaining your databases.